Summer Love
by EffRocksYeah
Summary: They said red roses symbolize love, and red roses - despite their alluring beauty - can definitely hurt you. Natsu is the Mr. Popular of Fairy Academy. Lucy is a tomboy who didn't mind not having any friends. Their friendship started after a drastic event. Will their friendship grew even more, or will it only cause pain in the end?
1. Chapter 1: Red Hot Babe

**Hi fellas! First of all, this is not my story. This is a story of AubreyEatsHearts of Wattpad and the original title is "Late Summer Rain". I only changed the characters and some information so it can be related to Fairy Tail. So all credits are to AubreyEatsHearts and Hiro Mashima! :)**

**Full Summary:**

**It was pity that first made Lucy speak to him. She had known Natsu since she was a kid, but he had always been the popular boy, and she had always been the tomboy that didn't mind not having any friends. It was odd, she had thought, that all the popular kids who had once kissed the ground he walked on, didn't so much spared him a glance anymore, and it was this that made her sit with him that one faithful day and begin something that would only end up causing her pain.**

**Chapter 1: Red Hot Babe **

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During the second last week of school before summer, Natsu Dragneel fell 50 feet down to the ground, from 'most popular' to something that was equal to The Black Plague. Nobody knew why exactly, but all the popular kids started avoiding him, and the rest of the student body followed expectantly. Every lunch hour he would sit by himself-all by himself-with an entire lunch table to his fancy. Nobody dared to talk to him-nobody even walked near him-afraid they might catch whatever it was he had suddenly caught overnight.

"It's not fair that you get the whole lunch table to yourself," I said as I put my lunch tray across from his. He was busily occupied writing on a piece of creased line-paper, ignoring the stares of everyone in the cafeteria.

Natsu jumped at my voice. I've never talked to him before, but I saw him around the school all the time. We were in the same grade and have had classes together since the beginning of elementary school, but he was Mr. Popularity, a complete hottie, and I was an average girl with an average height, average weight, average looks and an exaggerated hatred towards frills, lace and purple. I doubt he's ever seen me before. "You're not afraid of me?" He asked, his onyx eyes shimmering with astonishment.

"Should I be? Do you have cooties?" I asked sarcastically, with a roll of my eyes. Natsu chuckled, flashing me his infamous perfect smile. "So make me laugh, what did you do that was so bad that the kids you knew since kindergarten pushed you down the monkey bars in less than a day?"

He shrugged softly. "I might have done some... not so nice things. Said some... not so nice but honest things," he replied, still laughing. He changed the topic quickly. "Your name is Lucy, isn't it?"

I smiled. "Yup. How'd you know my name?"

He laughed-again that exhilarating smile. "We've been in the same class together since elementary school. I'll admit that I know nothing about you, but I know your name at the very least."

I took a bite out of my sandwich and pointed at the paper he was half hiding under his big, masculine hands. "What're you writing about?"

He looked nervously at me and crumpled the paper up. "Just a couple of things I've got on my mind." Natsu threw the paper ball in the air aiming for a nearby trash can, but I reached my arm up at that precise moment and effortlessly swiped the ball from the air. He clearly didn't know I could beat any stupid boy at any sport, anytime, anywhere. "Hey! Don't read that. You're not supposed to read that. Give it back!"

His body flew up. He was tall and his body hovered over the table, hands flying for the crumpled ball in my hand. "No. No. No." I teased in a sing song voice. Turning my back towards him, I spread the rough piece of paper out. "Let's see what kind of secrets you wrote down. 10 things I want to do this summer." I glanced at him with a smirk and a raised eyebrow and began reading his list. "Number 1: Eat one liter of ice cream." I laughed, "Are you kidding me? What kind of list is this?"

Natsu gave up and sat back down, cupping both his cheek in his hands as a pout swiftly adorned his face. "I guess I'll let you read it," he said as if he was the one doing the favor, "since I haven't talked to anyone but my parents and the teachers for the last week and a half."

There was a flicker of sadness in his eyes and I couldn't help but pity him. Natsu had always been a relatively nice guy even though he had all the wrong friends at school. The truth was he couldn't fit in with the rest of the average kids given that he was exceptionally attractive and athletic. Everything about him was charming and refreshing and I found myself captivated by him even though pretty boys were my least favorite cup of tea. I hated boys that had roses growing out of their background as much as I hate the color purple. Maybe it was because I felt kind of manly being around them.

Ever since I can remember, I've been called a tomboy. While other girls growing up with me preferred princess dresses, I ran around with my older brothers baking mud pie and daring each other to eat worms. When they started wearing makeup and chasing boys, I spent my time playing video games and working part time so I had the money to watch wrestling on Pay Per View. It wasn't like I peed standing up or anything, I just liked to live life simpler and did things that I liked because it made me happy.

I continued reading his list. "Number 2: Shower under a waterfall. Number 3: Have a watermelon eating contest. Number 4: Go swimming with the Great White Sharks." I looked up and saw him smiling at me.

"Cool huh? I've always wanted to do that! It's going to be the best thing ever."

I gave him a weird look. "Number 5: Get up to see the sunrise not sunset. Number 6: Play the guitar and sing in front of a crowd. Number 7: Watch a meteor shower." I smiled at the thought. I love the idea of doing all these things. It was like a test of courage, like doing whatever your heart wanted without anyone's consent. It felt like for once Natsu didn't care what others thought if he suddenly stuffed his pretty face down a toilet bowl. "Why are you writing this?"

Natsu shrugged as he ran a careless hand through his dishevelled pink locks. "I've never realized what life meant to me until these last few weeks. I mean, I was always caught up in so much unnecessary drama. If it's not, hey did you hear 'Kim slept with Jared,' it's 'did you hear Finn cheated on blah and blah?' I mean, do I really care?" He let out a long, exaggerated sigh and again shrugged, but this time like he was shedding of extra weight. "Now that I have no friends, I've got a lot of time to think about... well, me. I want to do something memorable, something unforgettable this summer to celebrate my realization of... life."

"I like it," I said supportively. "This sounds wicked!" I continued reading down the list, eager to find out the last few items on his summer to-do list. "Number 8: Send a message in a bottle. Number 9: Give mom a dozen red roses and tell her I love her. Number 10:..." I stopped. Natsu had erased the last thing and all that was left behind were the indented marks on the paper. It was still readable even though the black pencil lead was gone.

"Well that's it," he said. "Want to join me on my expedition sometimes?" He clutched a corner of the paper and pulled but I held it steady in my hands. Natsu didn't look embarrassed about number 10, it was a different kind of look-one I didn't quite understand.

"Number 10," I said staring into his eyes. "Fall in love?"

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**Chapter 1: Red Hot Babe**

**It is our semestral break, so maybe I can update faster than expected. But I have a project in English, so I have to finish that before I can update. ;)**

**Don't forget to leave a review, follow, and put this story in your faves! :D**

**- EffRocksYeah**


	2. Chapter 2: The Red Sunrise

**Thanks to: CatsCradle22, nicolemilan52, dang regacho, desandted, QueeN An1mE, and to those who follow and put this story in their faves! XD**

**Credits: AubreyEatsHearts (_Late Summer Rain_) & Hiro Mashima (_Fairy Tail_)**

**Chapter 2: The Red Sunrise **

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I was still sleeping in my bed when Natsu woke me up at 3am via throwing small rocks and pebbles against my bedroom window. Irritated, I rolled out of bed and landed with a loud thump on the carpet before picking my limbs up off the floor. It was honestly still dark out, but I could hear his voice - enthusiastic as ever - chirping outside.

Stumbling across my room, I made my way to the door of my mini balcony before opening the door and stepping outside. Natsu's voice hit me before the cool night breeze did. "Good morning!" He yelled, looking a little bit better than gorgeous with the moonlight lighting up his presence and his usual smile spread out across his face.

"It's still night," I groaned. "Go back to bed." I left the balcony door open, but went back to snuggle underneath my blankets.

I could hear him screaming outside for me to get my butt up and I was pretty sure he was eventually going to wake up the neighborhood if I didn't stop him. "Get up!" He shouted. "It's going to be a beautiful day today! Let's go see the sunrise!"

"Five more minutes!" I begged, burying my head in my pillow. "Please!"

Natsu laughed, but continued to pester me. "C'mon or Romeo is going to keep throwing rocks at your window until one actually hits you."

A chuckle tumbled out of my mouth as I made my way back out to the balcony. Elbows resting against the metal railing, and face resting on the palm of my hands, I peered down at Natsu with amusement. "Romeo? Really?" I teased. "Where? Because all I see is a Juliet."

Even in the dim lighting, I could make out the face Natsu gave me which made me laugh because he looked even more like a girl with that kind of displeased, pouty expression. "Alright. Alright." I muttered. "Just let me throw on some clothes and I'll meet you down there in five."

Quickly, I threw on my older brother's hand-me-downs and before five minutes even passed, I was flying out the front door.

After we talked to each other that day, Natsu and I met up to eat lunch for the last few days of school. It's been two weeks since the start of summer vacation and he was still buzzing around me like a bee.

In a way, he was like a puppy with its butt set on fire, always yipping about until he forced me to become his new friend, until he invited himself over to my house, until he invaded my room because he wanted to see what it look like.

"What does your room look like?" He had chirped.

"A room," I had replied, but the boy doesn't seem to be able to take 'no' for an answer.

It seem like he wanted me to join him on his summer adventures too, and although some of it does sounded really cool, I was a little less than thrilled for waking up so early for a mere sunrise.

Natsu laughed when he saw me. "Did a bird build a nest out of your hair?" He said of my bed-head. "Do you have eggs in there?"

"Oh shut up!" I said and hopped inside his beat up convertible his dad brought him when he turned sixteen two months ago.

"I can't." He replied as he started his car engine. "I promised myself I was going to give honest opinions from now on, remember?"

He did tell me.

That was all the reason that his friends shunned him. It turned out that one of Natsu's new found reasons for life was to live a life that wasn't a lie, so he wrote up what he really thought about every one of his friends and told them to stick it. Apparently he sent the e-mails to them all at once and within hours was cut off contact.

I was surprised the guys he offended didn't gather to beat him up when he confessed to me the real reason nobody would talk to him, but I suppose they felt the same way I did about Natsu.

He was just too pretty.

Beating him up would feel like beating up a girl - sort of unfair.

I sighed and turned away from Natsu as I felt the wind blowing through my hair. It was the first time I ever rode in a convertible and it was nothing like the movies made it up to be. The early morning wind was blowing the wrong way and my shoulder length, blonde hair was forming a steep mountain on my face. Natsu laughed and called me a gorilla all the way to Crescent View Hill, a cliff that stood at the edge of our town.

By the time we got there it was almost 4am and Natsu sat talking about writing a song for the mid-summer talent contest that took place down by City Park every year. The sun wasn't up yet, but the sky had lightened to a soft, hazy black. Natsu got out of the car and brought his guitar from the trunk. We sat outside on the hood of his car as he played a few notes for me to hear.

"Not bad. I didn't know you can play."

"Yeah?" He smiled. "I want to join the talent contest if I can. I've never played the guitar or sung before in front of any of my old friends."

"Why? You're not the best, but you're pretty darn good."

He shrugged. "Because I'm not the best, exactly as you said it. I'm not ashamed of not being the best, but I don't want people to see me trying. It's embarrassing. I mean, it's not exactly cool if you have to try hard at something to be good at it."

"That's ridiculous," I said. "Trying your best to achieve something is the best feeling right after succeeding after giving your best."

"I know," he said. Smiling, he stretched his legs in front of him. "That's why I'm going to do it this summer at the talent show. I've got major stage fright issues - because I'm constantly worried how people might think of me - but I want to overcome it. I want to play it on stage even if people start booing."

"You're being melodramatic," I said with an eye roll before smiling up at him. "You know I'll be there to cheer you on no matter what."

His special smile blossomed like a sunflower on his face and I knew by that look - the look where his eyes were nearly the size of the moon - that he got a weird idea in his head. "Want me to teach you?" He asked, holding up his guitar.

"No, it's really okay."

"Want me to teach you?"

"I said, it's fine."

"Want me to teach you?"

This was exactly what I was talking about before. Natsu had a tendency to annoy the hell out of you until you finally gave him what he wanted. "Yes, I'd love to learn Natsu," I said depressingly.

He quickly showed me all the guitar strings and taught me how to play a simple song which I completely blew. I couldn't even hold the guitar properly. "Here, sit here instead. It's hard to teach you the proper way to hold it and play it if you sit like that." He spread out his legs and motioned me to sit in between them.

I shook my head. That would be awkward. Usually it would be fine - I felt more comfortable being around guys than I did with girls anyway, but that wasn't the case with Natsu. It's not like I wasn't at ease when I was with him, he was fun to be with, but there was something else.

All I knew was I would have sat there without a second thought if it was any other guy, but not Natsu. Natsu was different.

I got weird butterflies when I was around him.

He frowned, took the guitar from my hands and stood next to his car. Then he wrapped his arms around my stomach and pulled me over one of his legs and I found myself exactly where he wanted me to sit, in between his legs. He picked his guitar up and parked it on my lap. With both his hands placed on top of mine, we played the Itsy Bitsy Spider together.

When he finally freed me from his arms, the sun was peeking at us through a vivid rainbow of yellow, pink, baby blue, and violet. Natsu sighed. "I really can't wait for the talent contest, but the problem is that I have to write an original song for the show. They won't let me sing just any song. What can I write about?"

"Life?" I suggested with mild interest. "Why don't you write about your new found glory of life?"

He laughed. "Don't tease me just because you've always known what makes you happy. I just needed a little time to understand myself, that's all." He looked up at the sky. The colors were changing now, slowly forming a painting in the horizon. "I don't even know how to write a good essay, I can't write a song."

"Just let the words from in your head," I suggested. "Forget what the song is going to be about. Just play the melody written in your heart and the words will follow them."

"Easy for you to say."

The sunrise was in full bloom now, with its sudden orange-red warmth enveloping me. The baby birds were awake and were chirping away as the mother birds looked for food. A soft, fresh breeze flew by me, brushing my tangled and still un-brushed hair back. Natsu and I sat there for a long time just looking at the sunrise without any exchange of words.

"The melody in my heart," he said abruptly, with his guitar still tucked nicely in his lap. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, opened them and started playing a nostalgic melody. Then he began to sing, his voice like an angel's.

_I wouldn't ask you a single thing_

_If you just grabbed my hand and ran_

_Let out just a single word_

_I'll do whatever I can_

_Oh because I'd do anything_

_Jump off a cliff if it's for you_

_Baby, I'd do anything_

_Anything if it's for you_

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**Chapter 2: The Red Sunrise**

**I updated now because I'm sure that I can't update this week because 1.) Monday-Wednesday, I have to finish my English project. 2.) Thursday, I will go with my family to the cemetery because it's All Saints Day. 3.) Friday-Tuesday, I'm out of town because I joined an event in which all schools will go to Baguio and stay there for 4-5 days, the event consists of seminars, contests, games, etc. 4.) Wednesday, it's our rest day. But I need to be ready for school because all those who joined the event missed 3 days of school already.**

**But if I finished my project in English early, or I have energy to type on Wednesday next week, I will update. So just stay tuned. ^^**

**Don't forget to leave a review, follow, and put this story in your faves! =)**

**- EffRocksYeah**


	3. Chapter 3: Red Stained T-Shirts

**Thanks to: GoldenRoseTanya, An1mE QueeN, dang regacho, CatsCradle22, Rozinita, Rinny-Senpai 32, themidnightblackcat, FairyEater22, Meeeoowth, and to those who follow and put this story in their faves! =]**

**Credits: AubreyEatsHearts (_Late Summer Rain_) & Hiro Mashima (_Fairy Tail_)**

**Chapter 3: Red Stained T-Shirts **

* * *

I didn't know when, but I must have fallen asleep on top of Natsu's car hood. It was probably past noon and the sun was beating down heavily on us. I was hot - he had draped his jacket over me when it was still cool that morning and had fallen asleep beside me with one of his arms resting on top of the side of my hip.

I poked my head up. Crescent View Hill was swarmed with people now.

Our town might have been a small one, but it had mountains, fields of greenery and lakes all around, not mentioning numerous festivals that occur throughout summer so it wasn't that out of the ordinary to see tourists around at this time of the year. Crescent View Hill was known for spectacular sightseeing and since the cliff was now flooding with people, curious and annoyed stares were inevitable.

I turned my head to look at a little girl with black curls as she pointed excitedly at us. "Mommy! Mommy! What are they doing?" The mother hushed her and glared at me angrily before storming off with her daughter in tow.

I only shrugged in response. It didn't matter to me since it wasn't the first time a mother has ever glared at me. Mothers seem to glare at me a lot these days - even more so then when I sent their little boys running back home crying when I was young. They used to call me Danger Lucy. I controlled the playground.

Throwing Natsu's jacket over my shoulder and back inside his convertible, I sat up before shaking him on the arm. He had a bit of drool rolling down the corner of his mouth and I could only imagine what he must have been dreaming about. "Wake up pretty face," I laughed. "You better have been thinking about cake."

Natsu popped his eyelids open and gazed at me blankly, still in the midst of his dreams. "_What_?" He rubbed his eyes and then his mouth, sitting there completely dazed before smiling stupidly. "Oh, hello Lucy. Good Morning."

I gave him a noogie to wake him up.

After Natsu finally got his brain working, we drove down half an hour to a vegetable and fruit farm and picked up an enormous watermelon before driving down to the beach for the rest of the day. We found an empty platform where they docked boats and decided to bring the watermelon there before setting up our much anticipated watermelon contest. Natsu had packed a picnic clothe from his sports bag as well as a knife in a safe carrying case and after chopping the fruit into several pieces, we got fired up in bring the other _down_.

"Get ready to lose," I screamed. "Nobody can eat watermelons as fast as I can."

"We'll see about that," he said with a smirk.

We got on our mark and began, each of us with three big slices of watermelon. Natsu took big bites, laughing and spitting the occasional black seed in the air so that it fell in the deep blue water that was below us with an extremely delicate splash. My basic concept was to mow it down and eat it like I was brushing my teeth with it. The cool, sweet taste of the watermelon ran down my throat and trickled down my face staining my oversized white T-shirt red.

I won of course!

Bolting up, I danced around, rubbing it in his face as he playfully glared at me. Our faces were covered in watermelon juice and Natsu had a couple of seeds stuck on his face although oddly enough it just made him look that much more adorable. "Only because I _let_ you win," he said.

My mouth popped open to retort, but was rudely interrupted by a painfully annoying sneer. "Well, look who it is? If it isn't Lucy Heartfilia and Natsu Dragneel!" It was like nails clawing down a chalkboard. "_Hellooo_ reject club!"

I shuddered and looked up to find the school's most obnoxious girl, Angel Seis, standing there in the skimpiest diamond studded bikini - one that looked like it was stolen right out of Paris Hilton's closet.

Angel had just stepped off her daddy's new yacht with some older boys that obviously didn't go to our school. I sighed and rolled my eyes at her. I didn't want to deal with her today. She was always such a pain whenever I saw her, most likely because she still held a huge grudge on me from way back during our simpleton days.

It was completely ironic, but Angel and I met in kindergarten and actually used to be quite good friends. One day when we were seven or eight, she teased me by daring me over and over to push her into a swamp on a school field trip. So I pushed her.

Angel has been out to destroy me ever since. I have no idea why she hates me so much - I only did what she asked.

Sighing, I started walking away just to keep a large enough distance between us. I wasn't a pushover, but if I could just walk away from something, I'd do that. Save me the annoying drama.

"_Why_, don't just walk away Lucy. Oh look at you, helping us recycle trash." She glanced at Natsu, smirked. She was part of his inner circle. "I didn't know you liked the manly type Natsu. _Honestly_, if I were you, I'd just go for an _actual_ guy instead of someone that is halfway in between."

"We're just friends," I said a little bit too quickly before rolling my eyes. "And _please_ Angel, if you've got _that_ much time on your hands, why don't you book _another_ appointment with your plastic surgeon? Maybe this summer he'll actually give you a face that _doesn't_ look like crap."

Natsu laughed. "And then you'll _finally_ be 100% made from plastic Angel. Congrats!"

Angel growled and threw us both a menacing glare. "It's no use talking to you _pathetic_ people. It'll lower my standard." She flipped her extremely long silver extensions that must have cost a fortune before walking away, swaying her hips so far out with each step that I'm not quite sure why her body hasn't detached.

Natsu grinned at me from ear to ear before throwing a watermelon peel in Angel's direct path. My jaw dropped as Angel stepped on the peel as predicted, slid on it like a skateboard to the edge of the dock and fell - plunk - into the deep water. Natsu and I burst into laughter and even the guys that Angel were with, fell into snorts and cackles.

"I can't believe you _just_ did that," I laughed. "You're horrible!"

"I know," he snickered. "_I am_!"

A loud, piercing scream brought our laughing to an immediate stop. "Lucy Heartfilia! Natsu Dragneel! I'm going to kill you once I get up there!" An arm shot up from beneath the docks and then another before Angel's head suddenly popped up, hair covering her face with a piece of seaweed on top of her head.

I stared at her completely baffled. She was one heck of a swimmer - probably from that swamp accident - and before I knew it she had clambered back onto the dock, huffing angrily at me and Natsu. "You're so dead," she hissed.

I stuck my tongue out at her as Natsu jumped to his feet, half chuckling as he quickly stuffed his things back inside his bag. "Oh crap! Run! Run!" His hand quickly grabbed onto mine as we ran as fast as we could - still laughing as Angel chased us, screaming from one end of the beach to the other until we lost her.

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**Chapter 3: Red Stained T-Shirts**

**I'm so sorry for the late update! It will be two months tomorrow if I haven't update. T.T I was grounded because of, uhm, my low grade in History. :( But being the good child I am *ehem* I managed to use the computer, and I am free! :)**

**Visit my Tumblr and follow me, I have 0 followers. Lol. Just look at my profile to see the address. ;)**

**I post anything that I want to share, mostly about Fairy Tail. So visit it! :D**

**Don't forget to leave a review, follow, and put this story in your faves! XD**

**- EffRocksYeah**


	4. Chapter 4: Red Roses

**Thanks to: ADeathlyRose, Rinny-Senpai 32, LiLyRose98, GoldenRoseTanya, ARTZZ21, and to those who put this story in their faves and alerts! ^^**

**Credits to: AubreyEatsHearts (_Late Summer Rain_) & Hiro Mashima (_Fairy Tail_)**

**Chapter 4: Red Roses **

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I screamed at the top of my lungs and was almost in tears when Natsu handed me the airplane tickets. Screaming, and especially at the top of my lungs, was something I rarely ever did since I never found anything that can work me up to that stage.

There weren't many things in this world I could say I'm scared of either, things that can make me freak out like I was twelve years old again or make me cry. I haven't screamed this loud for years and the last time I cried when I was five, shoved an earthworm in my older brother's mouth, and got spanked because of it.

"Excited?" He asked, laughing at me.

"No kidding," I said, looking at the plane tickets to San Diego. The boat tickets were there too, the ones that would take us far out to the oceans to dive with the Great White Sharks. "Are you sure? I can pay you back. It'll just take me some time since I don't have that much money right now."

Natsu shook his head of pink hair. "Don't worry about it. I've got it all covered. My parents are paying and they just want us to have a good time, so what do you say? Are you in?"

I smirked slyly at him. "You know if you put it like that, I'll say yes. I'm not a very humble person when it comes to free things." Natsu just rolled his eyes at me as I broke into a light chuckle. "Plus, I really want to see the sharks!"

"Then I can count you in next week?" Natsu scrunched up his shoulders and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans before throwing me a boyish grin. "On the plane, right beside me?"

I nodded. "Right beside you," I said, smiling at him.

He beamed at me. "Well then come on. Let's get going."

Natsu walked over to his car, but I stood a good distance back on my driveway. "Wait, wait, wait," I screamed. I held my arms out, one hand facing him like a stop sign as he turned around and gave me a questioning look. "I've always wanted to do this!"

Natsu knew exactly what I was talking about and gave me a nod of approval before I took a deep breath. My legs picked up instantly and I dashed down the driveway towards his car before I jumped, slid across his convertible's hood and then, "Oww!"

"Oh my God! Lucy! Are you okay?!"

I burst into laughter as I rubbed the side of my butt. Oh God, that was so much fun!

Natsu on the other hand though, was not laughing. His eyes were wide like a bug's and immediately upon seeing me on the concrete ground, picked me up bridal style off the driveway. My cheeks instantly heated up. I felt like he was just about to kick open the door to our honeymoon suite.

"P-put me down!" I screamed, flailing my legs. "I'm fine Natsu! Just put me down!"

"How can you be _fine_?_"_ He barked. "You just _totally_ wiped out!"

My jaw dropped at his insult and I immediately brought my face up to his. "I _did_ not," I hissed.

"You _totally_ did!"

"I didn't!" I screamed, and then turned away from him as I cleared my throat, "I uh... intended to do that from the very beginning."

I gave Natsu a quick side glance and found him raising an eyebrow at me. "You intended to fall flat on your butt from the very beginning?"

I blushed. "Yes."

Natsu was apparently raised to be considerate because he didn't bring the topic up again.

I sighed and quickly managed to recompose myself while he pulled out of my driveway and started down the road. It was a cool Tuesday afternoon and the smell of rain still lingered in the air from the early morning.

It had been raining for the past few days - a good change from the overwhelming heat - but now everybody was sick of it and wanted the sun back again. "Where are we going anyways?" I asked.

He shrugged before grinning at me. "You'll know when we get there."

Natsu ended up taking me to a meadow where they grew roses in a town several hours north of where we lived. He wanted me to help him pick some red ones up for his mom. It was number nine on his summer to-do list.

When we arrived, I was more than surprised at how wonderful the roses smelled. They gave off such an attractive aroma that was both refreshing and sweet. The owner gave us some garden shears and a small basket to hold our roses in.

Natsu got straight to work, carefully picking his roses from a few selected bushes with no thorns as I ran around smelling the different types before making splashes in the muddy puddles out of sheer boredom.

"I never understood why people liked roses so much," I shouted at him across the mazes of different colored rose bushes. Natsu was done picking his flowers and now stood wiping the sweat that trickled down his cheek. The sun was up, shining brightly, carving a rainbow from the leftover raindrops in the sky. "I mean they aren't the best smelling flowers in the world and they aren't the prettiest looking flowers in the world. Why is everyone so obsessed with them?"

Natsu shrugged and jumped over multiple rose bushes before coming to my side. "I guess they like it because of the symbols roses have come to represent. Orange roses stand for desire, white roses for innocence, pink roses for admiration and yellow roses for friendship. Red roses..." He said smiling. "Symbolize love." He bent down and clipped a red rose off a nearby bush. "Here, for you."

Natsu slipped the red rose in my hair and ran off, only turning around once when he was too far away for me to see the color on his face. My fingers grazed lightly against the soft, red petals tucked neatly between the crease of my ear and my hair and wondered if my face were the same color.

"C'mon!" Natsu yelled from across the distance. "Or I'll leave without you!"

"Coming." I quickly dashed after him, but the speed of the incoming wind knocked the rose down as I picked up the pace. I turned around and swiftly bent over to pick the rose up, but dropped it once more when I felt a piercing sting in the tip of my index finger.

A small bulb of blood sat over the insignificant wound before overflowing and rolling off the side of my finger. Gingerly, I picked the rose up again before staring at it with curiosity. There - near the green bud of the rose - was a tiny, almost unnoticeable thorn sharpened near the edge for attacking.

I guess even the most innocent and pleasant looking flowers have a weapon that they're hiding.

Holding the stem of the rose, I hurried after Natsu.

Red roses symbolize love, and red roses - despite their alluring beauty - can definitely hurt you.

* * *

**Chapter 4: Red Roses**

**I was able to update because there's no classes today due to the Feast of the Black Nazarene. So, Happy Fiesta to all the Filipinos out there! =)**

**This is one of my favorite chapters. And this is also where I got the summary. =]**

**Did you got the meaning of the last line in the story? It means red roses symbolize love. And even love is really a beauty, it can definitely hurt you. :)**

**Don't forget to leave a review, and put this story in your faves and alerts! ;)**

**- EffRocksYeah**


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